The Peabody Awards

Temple Grandin (HBO)

Temple Grandin is an autistic woman who discovered she had unique insights into animal psychology and parlayed her gifts into a PhD, livestock-industry consulting, lecturing and best-selling books. How she overcame formidable odds to achieve so much has been the subject of dozens of profiles, including an excellent BBC documentary, The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow. The feat of HBO’s biographical drama Temple Grandin, directed by Mick Jackson, is that it gives viewers a sense of what it’s like to be inside the busy, hyper-sensitive mind of an autistic person like her. Grandin says she “thinks in pictures,” so Jackson augments Claire Danes’ gawky, skittish, spot-on impersonation with on-screen graphics, odd-angle shots, quick cuts and startling sound effects to make visible her unique perceptions of the world. For turning a superbly acted, inspirational film biography into an experiential event as well, Temple Grandin receives a Peabody Award.